The Magnolia West Mustangs dropped their first three District 40-4A matches to rival Magnolia, Tomball and Tomball Memorial.

But second-year coach Melissa Jones said she has seen improvement, from last year's 0-8 district campaign to this year, and, most importantly, she's seen more of the fire they need to turn things around.

"They're hungry for making playoffs this year and getting some wins, and they're excited that we have a whole second half of district," Jones said.

Jones, the former Brookshire Royal coach, took over last year for Katie Meyer, Magnolia West's first coach. With a lot of new faces, the Mustangs won just three games, but the groundwork was laid.

"The girls worked extremely hard and there was definite improvement from the beginning of the season to the end," Jones said.

Magnolia West lost eight seniors to graduation, but Jones said she expected to build off last season's showing, and it has, doubling last year's win total before this week.

The Mustangs are 6-7 overall going into Friday's key district road game against Waller.

They opened the season with a 10-1 loss to New Caney Porter, which brought flashbacks of last season's 11-0 loss to Magnolia.

"We were extremely concerned, but a couple of things weren't going right," Jones said. "A couple of my starters were out with the flu. But it was a good opportunity for some of my bench players to come in and fill some of those roles and see where they needed to work on their skills."

With that loss as the spark, the Mustangs have come a long way since.

"In talking to the girls about it after the game, they were the most disappointed I've ever seen them," Jones said.

They won the Brookshire Royal tournament with a 4-0 win over Columbia in the championship. Forwards sophomore Brianna Amason and senior Clarissa Ramirez scored one goal apiece.

"It was huge," Jones said. "The girls are used to winning things. The boys always make fun of them and the girls get mad.

"And so to come home with a trophy bigger than any the boys had was a big deal."

Senior center midfielder Elizabeth Ashwood, who recently signed with Lipscomb, supplied the other two goals against Columbia, but she was lost for the season with a torn ACL soon afterward.

Ashwood was the leading scorer when she was hurt. Jones called her loss huge.

"She helped make us better overall as a team," she said. "She's a really good leader on the field. But she's still showing up for all the games, and she's a captain, and the girls look up to her even though she can't play."

Ashwood, who didn't play last season, was one of several key newcomers.

Junior center mid Victoria French, who was playing alongside Ashwood, transferred from Tomball, and sophomore left back Sophia Miranda, who Jones says is invaluable in the back, is a JV callup.

"(Miranda) has not sat on the bench at all," Jones said.

"She's teeny-tiny. She's probably barely over 5 foot … but she manages to take the ball out of the air against girls who are probably 5-7, 5-8. She steps in front of people and she gets to that ball."

Roman started at outside mid last season but replaced an injured defender last month.

"She has become one of the best defenders we've got," Jones said.

And Ferguson is right there with her.

"She gets to almost everything back there," Jones said. "I have complete confidence in her. She's young, she doesn't have all the experience yet, but she plays her heart out every game."

Magnolia West needs a win to finish the first half of district.

Jones said her players have meshed well as a team. They're passing efficiently and seeing the entire field. The key going forward, starting with Waller, is getting to the ball quickly, and possessing it.

"They knocked us out of playoffs last year, so that's a big one." Jones said.